‘HR County Reads’ author Robin Cody visits

Hood River County Reads is an annual community reading adventure. This year, Hood River County is reading “Ricochet River,” by Robin Cody, a coming-of-age story set in a small Oregon logging town in the 1960s.

Free copies of the book are available (while supplies last) at the Hood River, Cascade Locks and Parkdale libraries, and will also be available for check-out.

Events include a panel discussion on April 6, 2-4 p.m. on “Native American Perspective, Story and Sense of Place.”

“Ricochet River,” set in the fictional Oregon logging town of Calamus in the 1960s, follows three friends: Wade, the local sports hero; Lorna, a bright, independent young woman; and Jesse, the new Indian boy in town. These three teens bond over sports, fishing and their pasts and plans as they try desperately to go beyond their small-town lives. The author will be giving a public reading at Hood River Library on Sunday, April 14, at 2 p.m.

Cody lives in Portland and is also author of “Another Way the River Has: Taut True Tales from the Northwest” and “Voyage of a Summer Sun.”

The alternate selection this year, for younger readers, is “Something to Hold,” by Katherine Schlick Noe. Noe’s novel is based on her own childhood experiences. It centers on the young woman Kitty as she grows up as one of the only white girls on the Warm Springs Reservation in Oregon. Noe is professor of education and director of literacy in the College of Education at Seattle University.

The goal of Hood River County Reads is to encourage readers of all ages to read and discuss books. Hood River County Reads titles represent the diversity of the Hood River County community and can be shared widely throughout the area.